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Collection Exports

Introduction

Filevine Collection Exports allow users to quickly export data from a Collections Section to Microsoft Excel or Word. Rather than running a separate collection report from the Report Builder every time the information is needed, Admins can configure the Collection Exports tool to attach a report to a collection, allowing users to easily export collection data without having to specify criteria.

By using Collections Exports, users can export lists like a list of names and addresses for a Mail Merge or a list of collection items to print for a meeting. If either a Word or Excel template is attached to the Collection Export report, users can export more complex documents like a group of letters to a list of insurance providers, or a graph of medical chronologies. Users can also export the data as a PDF document.

How to Use

Report Builder

Make eligible reports to use as templates for the Collection Export.

Navigate to the Report Builder by clicking on the hamburger icon in the top left corner. In the dropdown menu, hover over “My Reports” and click “Build Reports.”

In the first step of the Report Builder, in the bottom left-hand corner, specify the Org and Project Type for the collection section you want to test. This will give you more specific options underneath the “Create New Report” list.

Choose the "List of <Section Name> Items" report type that appears in that column. Clicking on one of these options will take you to the “Set Up Columns” page.

To choose the columns that you would like to add to your document or spreadsheet, click on the required fields and then click on the arrow to move them to the “Report Columns” box. Click the “Choose Criteria” button on the bottom right to go to the next page.

On the “Choose Criteria” page, choose any criteria you would like to further specify the information in the report. For instance, if you wish to regularly export items created in the past week or items with a specific dropdown option selected, you must use criteria to do so. These criteria will be in place every time you use this report template to export, so make sure that you choose carefully.

Run the report by clicking the “Run the Report” button on the bottom right.

Once the Report has run, click the “Save/Export Report” button, click “Save As”, and give the report an easily identifiable name. The name of each Collection Export file will include the name of the report.

Recommended: Share the report with the Org in the Save/Export step of Report Builder. Only users that have shared access to an attached Collection Export report will be given the option to export that report from the collection.

Optional: Assign an Excel or Word template to one of your reports to customize the look, feel, and arrangement of the exported file. By default, the file is exported as an .xlsx file.

Advanced > Customs Editor

Set up the Collection Export feature for the section. This requires access to Advanced tools, which can be granted to users by a Filevine Admin.

To navigate to the Customs Editor, click on the hamburger menu in the top left corner, click on “Advanced,” and then click “Customs Editor.”

Choose the Org and Project Type you used when creating the collection reports.

Click on the section you specified when creating the reports. In the section editor, scroll down to the "Custom Section Setup" section and click “[+] Show Collection Options.”

The Collection Options panel will open. Click the “[+] Add” button next to “Export Template” at the bottom of this section.

The “Collection Export Template Setup” window will open. Click the reports under the “Eligible Reports” box that you would like to export, and click the arrow to move them to the “Collection Export Reports” box. You can select one report to enable a single export button or multiple reports to enable a dropdown menu in the collection.

Closing the menu will update the list of reports in the Collection Export Setup part of the Collection Options panel.

In the Project Section

Generate a Collection Export.

To generate the Collection Export, navigate to the Project and section that you ran the report on. You will now see an export button (or dropdown menu) in the top right-hand corner of this section.

Click the export button to generate a document or spreadsheet. If there are multiple templates assigned to the section, you will see an arrow next to the button, which allows you to select a specific report to export. Be patient—file generation may take a few seconds!

Once a report is selected, the export button will continue to export that report until you select a new one from the dropdown menu—even in different projects!

As soon as the file is ready, a pop-up with a download link will appear. Be sure to click and download the file! The file is not saved or accessible in Filevine after you close the download pop-up.